Method and apparatus for bulking yarn



y 1966 w. L HEAD 3,253,313

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR BULKING YARN Filed Sept. 18, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 PRE-FILTER COMPRESSOR FILTER ABSOLUTE FILTER A 27 I 'I E "#4 V g:

3 4 W1 lltam LHead L INVENTOR.

22 Iii-1 ,4- BY 1M M TORNEYS May 31, 1966 w. 1. HEAD METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR BULKING YARN 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 18 1963 Wi lli nIHead INVENTOR.

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ATTORNEYS y 1, 1966 w. 1. HEAD 3,253,313

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR BULKING YARN Filed Sept. 18, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 WilliamLHead INVENTOR.

.ATZZURNEYS United States Patent 3,253,313 METHOD AND APPARATUS FQR BULKING YARN William 1. Head, Kingsport, Tenn, assignor to Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, N.Y., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Sept. 18, 1963, Ser. No. 309,691.

The portion of the term of the patent subsequent to May 5, 1976, has been diselaimed and dedicated to the Public 5 Claims. (Cl. 2$1) This invention relates to yarn winding apparatus. More particularly this invention concerns apparatus for feeding and taking up yarn wherein the yarn between such operations is subjected to gas treatment in a gas jet.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application Serial No. 809,689, filed April 29, 1959, now US. Patent No. 3,127,729, issued April 7, 1964.

The processing of multifilament yarn by passing the multifilament yarn through a jet or jets wherein the yarn is acted upon by a gas as air, steam and the like to produce certain effects thereon is of commercial interest in the textile industry. The resultant processed yarn is referred to by various names such as banded, lofted, textured, volumized, steam crimped and bulked. A considerable amount of such type of yarn is currently produced. While such type of yarns as presently produced are quite useful, in a number of instances the yarn may not be of as high a quality as may. be desired for certain purposes. Gr, if the quality of the yarn is improved by certain procedures, the speed or rate of production of the yarn may be reduced thereby increasing the cost of production.

Therefore, the production of high quality yarn of the class indicated at good production rates represents a high- 1y desirable result. After considerable investigation I have found certain procedures and apparatus whereby a high quality jet-processed yarn may be produced at relatively high production rates and other advantages may be obtained as will be pointed out hereinafter.

This invention has for one object to produce a high quality jet-processed yarn having excellent cleanliness and uniformity. Another object is to provide means of increasing the speed of producing such type of yarn while maintaining a high level of yarn quality. Still another object is to provide improved apparatus features which contribute to the production of high quality yarn at good production rates. Still another object is to provide means for reducing the contamination of room air in areas Where the jet processed yarn is being produced. Still another object is to provide means for reducing the noise in areas where the jet-processed yarn is being produced without sacrificing yarn quality, production rates or the like. Other objects will appear hereinafter.

As described in my older Patent 2,807,864, compressed gas is admitted to the yarn jet where it acts upon the multifilament yarn in a certain manner to form, if desired, loops on the surface of the yarn and entanglement within the yarn depending on the production of the various processed yarns. In my Patent 2,807,864 I have described procedure for treating the feed yarn with certain treating agents having the property of causing high static electrical charges to be formed on the yarn. Such electrical charges appear to facilitate the opening up of the yarn thereby permitting the gas to more readily act upon the mnltifilament yarn to process it.

I have now found that if moisture is entrained in the gas used in the processes of the class indicated, since such moisture is a good conductor of electricity, this moisture in the gas tends to prevent the formation of static electrical charges. Accordingly, the quality of the jet-processed yarn may be impaired if the gas contains substantial moisture. Therefore, I have found that it is most desirable to use dry gas or a gas of low humidity for obtaining optimum treatment of the yarn in jet treating processes. The gas supply, as air, for the compressors used in delivering air to the jet is usually taken directly from the atmosphere and therefore contains a certain amount of moisture and dirt. When this compressed air finally reaches the jet, it has reached the temperature of the surroundings. The expansion cooling in the jet can cause condensation of the water vapor in this air. Condensation can also occur in the compressed air lines if the temperature is allowed to fall below the dew point of the air-vapor mixture in the line. As explained above, condensate may be harmful in jet processes for several reasons. The water wets the yarn and prevents the proper separation of filaments which is needed to permit loops and internal entanglement or other effect. The passage of condensate is frequently not uniform and thus causes fluctuation in the air velocity and degree of filament separation thereby causing a resultant nonuniform processing of the yarn. As apparent, nonuniform yarn may beunacceptable for weaving quality fabrics. Also, the momentum of water droplets is greater than that of gas and thus may cause unequal .forces to act on the filaments and thereby produce uneven processing.

Accordingly, I have found for the aforementioned reasons that by eliminating moisture and condensate from the gas being supplied to the jets and by feeding and taking up the yarn in a certain manner that an improved more uniform jet-treated yarn may be produced.

I have further found that one method of eliminating the condensate from the gas is by heating the gas before it is allowed to expand in the jet. In the situation where the gas is air, such air is heated enough to keep the air temperature above the dew point as the air passes through the jet. I have found that in general a minimum temperature of F. will prevent condensation in the jet if the air has previously been saturated with moisture at 70 F.

A psyehrometric chart shows that 70 F., 100% relative humidity air heated to 100 F. has been dehumidified to the extent that its relative humidity is less than 40%. An air temperature of F. is generally adequate to prevent condensation even with extremes in atmospheric conditions. I have found that for best results the relative humidity for the compressed air used in the bulking jets should be below 30 percent for supply pressures up to 25 p.s.i.g.

Another problem associated with the production of high quality jet-treated yarn is the exhaust from the jets. In other words, I have found that there is a problem in the disposal of the lint, oil and the like which may be blown from the yarn during the jet-treating process as the yarn exits from the jet. For example, when yarn of different colors is being processed on adjacent machines, I have found that care must be taken to prevent the lint from the different colors from being mixed with the first yarn. Fine particles of oil may be blown from the yarn during jet treatment and these oil particles suspended in the room air may also present certain problems. Likewise, when heated gas is used in the jet processes, there may be a heavy load placed on the cooling system of air conditioned buildings. This additional load could even at times exceed the cooling capacity of the operating area. Accordingly, I have found for these and other reasons it is desirable to remove the exhaust gas from the jets from the production area. Another item in the production of jet-treated yarn, as described above, involves the manner in which the multifilament yarn is fed to the jet and taken up therefrom. This will be described in further detail hereinafter.

Accordingly, in the broader aspects of the present invention I have found that if the gas supplied to the jet process is carefully controlled in certain ways and the feed and take up are operated in a certain manner that the blown yarn produced as well as the jet process for the production thereof may be improved. In addition, if the gas exhausted from the system is handled in a certain manner the process and product may be further improved.

Fora further understanding of my invention, reference will be made to the attached drawings forming a part of the present application.

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of the overall assembly of apparatus which may be used for producing'yarn in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a detailed side elevation view partly in section of a jet assembly of the present invention.

FIG. 3 likewise is a side elevation view partly in section and similar to FIG. 2 excepting that it shows the parts in an opened relationship.

FIG. 4 is a side elevation view partly in section taken on 44 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a front elevation showing an apparatus arrangement for feeding and removing the yarn from the jet processing zone.

FIG. 5a is a cross sectional view of FIG. 5 on the line 5a5a.

FIG. 6 is a front elevation of another means of feeding and removing the yarn from the jet-processing zone.

FIG. 7 is a front view of a further alternate means of feeding the yarn to and removing it from the jet-processing zone.

FIG. 7a is a side elevation of FIG. 7 taken on the line 77.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown in series in the air line a prefilter 1, an absolute filter 2, the compressor 3, a heater 4 and a further filter 5, the function of which will be described hereinafter. In other words, the gas in conduit 31 would be of high quality, free of moisture, oil and other contaminants.

A portion of this gas is withdrawn at 32 to the jet 6. This jet may be of a construction as described in detail in my companion patents, hence detailed description herein is unnecessary. A two-piece shroud 7 encloses the jet in a manner that the exhaust gas from the jet can be conducted through flexible tube 8 into the exhaust header 9 which is coupled to an exhaust fan 10.

Attention is now turned to the portion of the apparatus with respect to which the present application pertains in particular. Means are provided such as yarn package 33 for supplying the multifilament yarn to be bulked to feed roll 34 from which it enters the jet at 35. The processed yarn is withdrawn at 36 and passed around withdrawal roll 37 from which it may be conducted to a wind-up package such as on spindle 38. Another apparatus which may be used in feeding the yarn to the jet and removing it therefrom is shown in 'FIG. 5 and FIG. 5a which is a cross sectional view along the lines 5a'5a of FIG. 5.

Referring to FIG. 5a, the yarn is fed from the package 133 directly to the large diameter 145 of roll 137 and thence to the jet 106. The yarn is then removed from the jet shroud through opening 136 and passes one or more times around the reduced periphery 146 of roll 137. The roll 137 is freely rotatable in bearings 151 and 151' (FIG. 5) and may be driven by frictional contact of the large diameter 145 and 145' with roll 134. Roll 134 acts as a common drive means for rotating roll 137 and as such acts as a common drive means for both feeding the yarn and removing the processed yarn from the jet zone. The yarn is taken up on package 138.

In FIG. 6 there is shown another variation of yarn feeding and removal apparatus in which the roll 237 is rotated by the pull of the yarn being wound on package 238. That is, the'yarn constitutes a common drive for roll 237 since it acts as a belt drive between the wind-up package 238, with associated traverse guide means 253, and the small diameter 246 of roll 237. Since roll 237 is a yarn feeding and removal device with two diameters it will be recognized that the rate of feed of the yarn to.

. section 245 of roll 237 and the small diameter section 246 of roll 237 in two separate pieces. This permits the rapid and convenient change of parts to put a larger or smaller roll at 246 thereby obtaining any desired ratio of take up to feed. These pieces may be-securely fastened together by means of screw 252 which passes through roll section 246 on its axis and fastens securely in a tapped hole on the axis of roll portion 245. As just mentioned this makes it possible to change the amount of overfeed effect by substituting other diameters of yarn removal roll for the reduced periphery portion 246 of roll 237.

In FIG. 7 still another form of yarn feeding and removal means is shown as a front view. FIGURE 7a shows the same apparatus in cross section along the line 77. In some cases where the apparatus of FIG. 1 is used it is diflicult to obtain enough friction between the v yarn feeding and removal surfaces to prevent any likelihood of yarn slippage. In some cases this yarn slippage can be prevented by coating the yarn feeding and removal surfaces to promote a high value of friction between the yarn and the roll surfaces. In some cases, however, this still does not positively insure against yarn slippage. The nip roll type arrangement shown in FIGS. 7 and 7a may then be used to advantage. As shown the roll 334 is provided with two diameters of suitable ratio to give the desired ratio of take up to feed. Weighted nip rolls 354 and 354' are then provided and ride on roll 334 to aid in preventing yarn slippage. In this case, the yarn is fed from the supply package 333 to the large diameter 347 of roll 334, partially around roll 334 and between the nip of roll 354 and roll 334 and then to the enclosed jet device 306 (FIG. 7a) enclosed in shroud 307. On removal from the jet through shroud opening 336, the yarn is fed to the small diameter 348 of roll 334, around this diameter 348 and into the nip of rolls 334 and 354', partialy around roll 354', and thence to the wind-up device 33 8. It has been found that the yarn of this invention after treatment in jet 306 possesses lower frictional properties than the untreated continuous multifilament yarn which is fed to the jet. For this reason, it is often desirable to provide a greater amount of peripheral contact of the treated yarn with the output roll surface than is required between the untreated yarn and the in-feeding large diameter roll surfaces. In the cross sectional view in FIG. 7a, there is shown one simple type of U-sh-aped bracket 355 which may be used to support the nip roll axles.

In considering all of the foregoing variations in the manner of feeding the yarn to and removing it from the jet treating zone it will be recognized that in each case a common yarn feeding and removal roll is utilized. This roll means including a reduced periphery portion and an unreduced periphery portion both of which roll portions are directly associated with a common drive means so that the rate of rotation of the reduced periphery portion with respect to the other portion is always constant.

For purposes of clarity in some of the figures the jet and its associated shroud and the feed and take up rolls are shown somewhat fart-her apart than is desirable in actual practice. In actual practice it has been found conducive to the production of processed yarn having a high degree of uniformity, to position the rolls as closely adjacent to the jet as is possible and in such a manner that the yarn is fed into the jet at a relatively abrupt angle and the treated yarn leaves the jet at a relatively abrupt angle.

In any case it is desirable that the rate of rotation of the reduced periphery portion of the roll relative to the large periphery portion is always constant. best achieved as shown in FIGS. 1, 5, 6 and 7 by use of a unitary type roll means. It will then be recognized that whether the yarn feeding and removal roll is driven by frictional contact with a drive roll as in FIGS. 1 and 5 or by the yarn itself as in FIG. 6 or by any other means such as chain, belt or gears, the ratio of yarn feed to the jet and the yarn removal from the jet will always be maintained in an exact and constant fixed ratio in relation to the comparative diameters of the rolls. Thus, a common drive means is of considerable advantage as compared to the use of two separate drive connections to drive two separate rolls, one for feeding the yarn into the jet and one for removing it from the jet.

The functioning of the various apparatus parts described above in connection with the several figures will be further apparent from the following brief description and will be still further apparent from the examples Which are set forth hereinafter.

In general the operation of my process in accordance with the present invention is similar to that described in detail in companion US. Patent No. 2,884,756. As I have stated in this patent, the air should be free of condensation and trash.

This is accomplished in the present invention by feeding a source of gas, such as air drawn in from the outside atmosphere through filters 1 and 2 and the compressor 3 with my preferred embodiment, to about 120 F. ever, as apparent from the preceding discussion depending upon the relative humidity of air and the like factors, a temperature of 100 F. or even somewhat lower will have utility. The heating may be accomplished by any suitable type of heater which may be heated with steam coils, hot oil, by electric current or otherwise. The exact manner of applying the heat to the air is not a limitation on the present application.

After the gas is heated, it is then given a further filtering at 5 and then 'by passage through conduits 31 and 32 goes into the jet in the usual manner. The pressure of the gas used may be in accordance with the disclosure of my patents or may be of other values, depending upon the particular yarn being processed, the nature of the treatment desired and the like factors, In general, however, the gas pressure which I prefer to use would be within the range of 3 p.s.i.g. to 60 p.s.i.g.

While in the examples herein I have described the processing of multifilament yarn comprised of cellulose acetate, any of the well-known man-made multifilament yarns either in the form of one end of yarn or a plurality of ends of yarn may be fed through my apparatus. It will be observed that I prefer to feed the multifilament yarn into the jet at an angle and to withdraw the bulked yarn at an angle. The arrangement of rolls 34 and 37 is such that the yarn may be fed at a faster rate than the processed yarn is withdrawn. The speed differential assists in obtaining the desired action on the yarn.

The exhaust air from jet 6, by means of parts 7, 8 and 9, is controlled so as not to contaminate the finished yarn with lint, oil and the like. Also, by this arrangement the noise from the exhaust air is reduced to a minimum by the construction of the present invention. Moreover, the heat of the exhaust air is vented to duct 9, which in turn is coupled to an exhaust fan which maintains a negative pressure in the duct 9 as measured relative tothe outside atmosphere.

A further understanding of my invention will be had from a consideration of the following example which is set forth for illustrating certain preferred embodiments.

Example I In accordance with this example a bulky acetate rug yarn was made under the following conditions in an apparatus in accordance with FIG. 1 having an enlarged feed roll in combination with a smaller take up roll as described above.

Supply yarn: 1942 denier, 16 d./f., semidull luster Yarn input speed: y.p.m.

Percent theoretical bulk: 32.0

Percent actual bulk: 18.1

Average air temperature: 230 F.

Air pressure: 22 p.s.i.

Specific volume: 118.4 cu. in./ lb.

The yarn produced under the foregoing conditions was 3-plied and tufted into a 31.5 oz./ sq. yd. loop pile carpet with pile height. After a stairway wear-test of 43,500 footsteps, this sample had a ranking of 6.25 among a group of 19 carpets representing various processing speeds and air temperatures. A similar carpet made with yarn processed at 80 F. had a ranking of 15.5 among the same group of carpet. The ratings were made onthe basis of wear and appearance with a rank of 1 being the best. It was necessary to process this yarn at only 60 y.p.m. with the 80 F. air to obtain quality equal to that obtained with the 230 F. air. A speed increase of 33%% was made'possible by the use of warmed air in accordance with the present invention and the roll combination without a loss in yarn quality.

Another improvement of this example of this invention is the use of high removal filters in the air lines to assure the cleanliness of the yarn product. FIG. 1 as pointed out above shows the location of filters 1, 2 and 5. Filter 1 is a bank of 2" thick spun glass batts which are used to remove coarse dirt and act as a prefilter for the absolute filter 2. Atmospheric air enters the system through the prefilter. The absolute filter is a high quality commercial paper filter designed to remove 99.5% of all particles above 0.3 micron in diameter. Downstream from the compressor 3 and the heater 4 is an additional filter 5 to remove particles larger than 2 microns. This last filter serves to remove oil particles and dirt which may originate in the compressor. The degree of filtration as described above is particularly desirable if natural or white yarns are being bulked for the textile trade. Under extreme conditions of atmospheric contamination, even this system will not prevent some rejects due to dirty yarn, and it may be desirable to resort to electrostatic precipitation or the like to remove all contamination from the air.

spirit and scope of the invention as described hereinabove, and as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for feeding yarn to a jet and taking up the processed yarn from said jet, said apparatus comprising in combination a first roll of enlarged diameter for feeding the yarn, means forholding the yarn against the top of said first roll, a second roll of smaller diameter for receiving the processed yarn from the jet, said second roll being in association with a further roll adapted to move up and down and ride on top of the processed yarn passing around said second roll.

2. An apparatus for the treatment of multifilament yarn comprising a jet device through which the yarn is passed and subjected to a gas blowing therein, at least one collection means for taking up the blown yarn exiting from said jet, a first rotatable driven roll over which 7 the rate of feeding, and wherein the jet device is enclosed in a shroud which permits said multifilament yarn to continuously pass into and out of said shroud and the yarn passes at a relatively sharp angle from the rolls to the jet and from the jet to the second take-up roll.

3. An apparatus for the treatment of multifilament yarn comprising a jet device through which the yarn is passed and subjected to a gas blowing therein, at least one collection means for taking up the blown yarn exiting from said jet, a first rotatable driven roll over which the yarn is guided and fed to said jet device, and a second roll driven in rigid association with said first roll for withdrawing said blown yarn at a rate proportionate to the rate of feeding and wherein the second roll is fastened to the first roll in a rigid manner but may be readily replaced by a difierent size second roll.

4. An apparatus for the treatment of rnultifilament yarn comprising a jet device through which the yarn is passed and subjected to a gas blowing therein, at least one collection means for taking up the blown yarn exiting from said jet, a first rotatable driven roll over which the yarn is guided and fed to said jet device, and a second roll driven in rigid association with said first roll for withdrawing said blovm yarn at a rate proportionate to the rate of feeding and wherein the roll surfaces are coated to promote a higher friction value between the yarn passing to and from the jet and said surfaces.

5. The method of producing a jet blown yarn comprising the steps of establishing a stream of filtered dehumidi- 8 fied gas of less than 40% relative humidity flowing at high velocity, introducing multifilament yarn into said gas stream, withdrawing the yarn from said stream and collecting the same on rotating means in close association with said jet, deriving a rotational energy from a single common drive roll means associated wt'ih the collecting of said yarn and feeding the multifilament yarn into said stream at a rate proportionate to the rate of collection by the use of at least a part of said rotational energy.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,323,991 7/1943 Halin 57-90 2,593,320 4/1952 Lewis et a1. 28-62X 2,634,491 4/ 1953 McDermott 57-34 2,713,242 7/1955 Esler 57-91 X 2,783,608 3/1957 Hasler 57-91 2,874,443 2/ 1959 Griset 57-34 2,874,444 2/1959 Griset 57-34 2,884,756 5/1959 Head 57-34 2,942,402 6/ 1960 Palm.

2,982,082 5/1961 Pool 57-34 3,127,729 4/1964 Head 57-34 FOREIGN PATENTS 370,908 -l/1907 France.

8,987 1894 Great Britain.

MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner. 

1. AN APPARATUS FOR FEEDING YARN TO A JET AND TAKING UP THE PROCESSED YARN FROM SAID JET, SAID APPARATUS COMPRISING IN COMBINATION A FIRST ROLL OF ENLARGED DIAMETER FOR FEEDING THE YARN, MEANS FOR HOLDING THE YARN AGAINST THE TOP OF SAID FIRST ROLL, A SECOND ROLL OF SMALLER DIAMETER FOR RECEIVING THE PROCESSED YARN FROM THE JET, SAID SECOND 